Checking It Twice

"There's a balance to be struck between your list of qualifications and reality."

"I spent a lot of time constructing my list."

"Yes, I know, and how proud you must be of it too. However, someone else shaped reality and they didn't really give a damn about your stupid list."

"No need to be testy about the whole thing. You want a cookie?"

"Your list is nothing more than a set of criteria you are looking for. You likely will never get someone that satisfies all of it. You really want someone that satisfies the major factors you are looking for."

"How will I -"

"Because the key factors should be the ones that overlap with a best friend. Granted there is more to a romantic relationship than friendship - there needs to be some attraction and passion, but needs and circumstances are going to change over time, and without the basic fundamental things that cement the relationship, which will often be the same things that form the foundation of your closest friendships, the relationship does not stand as good of a chance of actually lasting over time."

"Are you sure you don't want a cookie?"

"Will you forget the damn cookie?"

"I really think you would like the cookie."

*Rolls eyes* "Too often I have found people marry or date for the completely wrong reasons, and then when things go wrong, they just can't understand what happened, and what happened is that they didn't marry their best friend. They married something less than that. Maybe because the other person fit all of these other qualifications that they thought they wanted or needed that week - fat, thin, short, tall, sex, whatever. Granted, these are all things that one might look for in a partner, but they don't outline the basic fundamental ingredients of what they needed."

"It's like making a cookie with no sugar."

"God I pity the woman that ends up with you."

"She doesn't exist."

"What a waste of perfectly good cookie making abilities."

"No kidding."

"You often have emphasized the wrong things, in my opinion, in your pursuit of your next girlfriend. I will grant you that the dating pool sucks quite a bit and that the entire process can, at times, be completely disheartening. However, I think it's important that you keep your priorities in order during the course of your search, and at least form realistic ideas of the different women you will encounter."

"I'm not looking."

"Well then she will find you."